Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Raft

Twilight's horn lit, as she looked over the wall where it had been repaired. "You said it was a perfectly rectangular hole, right?" she asked without turning.

"Yes," answered the pony standing behind her. "I've never seen a cut so precise." She adjusted her glasses. "Do you know what spell might have caused it?"

"You said the same happened to the bridge a while before, right?" Twilight squinted. "Could I have a look at the damage done there as well?"

"Of course, Princess," the mare quickly said. "We repaired the damage, of course, but all the affected portions are still there. Some of the broken pieces had to be removed, but they should still be in storage."

"Good." Twilight nodded, and drew her head back to get a better look at the whole wall, still not turning towards the other mare.

After a bit of silence, the other cleared her throat. "Princess? Do you have an idea of what might have caused this?"

Twilight suddenly let go of her spell and turned, startling the mare. "I'd heard similar reports about something happening to a set of ruins nearby, and I took a little detour on the way to check on them. The damage does appear to be rather similar, and it's giving me the same readings."

The other pony, a pegasus with a peach coloured coat and a straight purple mane, adjusted her glasses and began to follow behind Twilight while the alicorn walked away. "I see." She pursed her lips and walked silently for a bit, an awkward twitch running along her mouth. "What do you think it is, then?" she finally forced herself to ask.

"A coil," Twilight replied, matter-of-factly. "No spell would give that kind of reading, and it's impossible for a pony to have done all that by hoof. Do you still have the note that was left here when the damage occurred?"

"We do, yes," said the mare. "Do you wish to see it?"

Twilight for a bit didn't answer, just walking through the building and ignoring the unsure glances and stumbled bows she received from the ponies she ran across. "I won't realistically be able to test every single pony in town," she finally said, "but seeing the writing itself and not just the contents will be useful nonetheless."

"I will have it brought to you immediately." The pegasus moved forward with one of the most surprisingly fast walking paces Twilight had witnessed, and quickly disappeared behind a corner.

Twilight kept walking on her same path towards the lower floors of the building and eventually the exit. She was, at once, glad she'd finally decided to check on the situation and bothered with herself for not having done so sooner. And to top it all off, worried about the consequences of her presence. Whoever had done all that was acting out of a desire for attention, and she wasn't sure giving her that much would bring good.

Still, it had been foolish to assume a coil wouldn't happen onto a pony who wouldn't use it for good, and she worried about how many others still might be out there.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Hmm. Rectangle select and erase. Quite the ability; let's hope it doesn't work on anything living. Still, at least a magical world is better equipped to defend itself against supervillains. It's a different kind of power, yes, but not something completely beyond the vast majority of the population. In theory.